KHTY (970 AM) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

that is

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

and serves inland

central California Central California is generally thought of as the middle third of the state, north of Southern California, which includes Los Angeles, and south of Northern California, which includes San Francisco. It includes the northern portion of the S ...

. The station is owned by

iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

and airs a

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on ...

format as an affiliate of

Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an American sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports division and iHeartMedia, parent compan ...

. The KHTY studios are located in southwest Bakersfield, and its transmitter is located east of

Oildale Oildale is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California, United States. Oildale is located north-northwest of downtown Bakersfield, at an elevation of . The population was 32,684 at the 2010 census, up from 27,885 at the 2000 cens ...

. KHTY broadcasts various sports programs, including

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

and

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...

games as well as

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

races.

History

The station on 970 AM first signed on in March 1961 as KBIS, a

daytimer A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-co ...

operating at a power of 1,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s. In June 1976, Westco Media sold KBIS to Thunderbird Broadcasting, owned by country music singer

Buck Owens Alvis Edgar Owens Jr. (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006), known professionally as Buck Owens, was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and band leader. He was the lead singer for Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, which had 21 No. 1 hits on ...

, for $382,500. As Thunderbird already owned

KUZZ KUZZ (550 kHz) and KUZZ-FM (107.9 MHz) are American radio stations licensed to serve Bakersfield, California, United States. The stations are owned by Buck Owens Production Company (which is controlled by the estate of country star Buck Owens) ...

(then at 800 AM) in Bakersfield, and

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

(FCC) regulations at the time prohibited ownership of multiple AM stations within the same market, that company sold KUZZ to the

International Church of the Foursquare Gospel The Foursquare Church is an Evangelical Pentecostal Christian denomination founded in 1923 by preacher Aimee Semple McPherson. The headquarters are in Los Angeles, California, United States. History The church has its origins in a vision of ...

for $100,000. The FCC approved both license transfers on November 16, and KBIS adopted the KUZZ

call letters In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

the following January. In August 1984, Buck Owens Broadcasting orchestrated a frequency swap with Sunset Broadcasting Corp., owner of KAFY. Owens traded KUZZ, a daytimer on 970 AM, to Sunset for KAFY — located on the stronger, full-time 550 AM frequency — plus $650,000 in cash. The 970 AM frequency took on the KAFY call letters in January 1986. In April 1987, Sunset Broadcasting, headed by Daren McGavren, sold KAFY to McGavren-Barro Broadcasting Corp. — owned by his son Steve McGavren and Mary Helen Barro — for $700,000. At the time of the sale, KAFY was broadcasting in the

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a global language with more than 500 million native speakers, mainly in the ...

. In April 2000, Hispanic Media Group, headed by Amancio Suarez Sr., sold KAFY and a

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

for a second AM station in Bakersfield to Golden Pegasus Financial Services for $825,000. At the time, KAFY broadcast a

regional Mexican Regional Mexican is a Latin music radio format encompassing the musical genres from the different parts of rural Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Genres include banda, country en español, Duranguense, grupero, mariachi, New Mex ...

music format. The station would change hands once again by the end of the year as

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

purchased the newly rechristened KZPM for $1.4 million. Throughout the 2000s under Clear Channel ownership, the 970 AM frequency took on various call signs and formats. In May 2001, Clear Channel began using the KZTK call sign on the then-

news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

outlet. In September 2002, the call letters changed to KGET to match those of television station KGET-TV, at the time also owned by Clear Channel. The radio station KGET was branded "News Talk 970 KGET". In January 2006, the KGET call letters were changed to KHTY. The station at the time was a

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 198 ...

radio station branded as "Mighty 970". In 2007, KHTY switched back to news/talk with the branding "Business 970 KHTY". Later that year, KHTY began airing a news/talk format in Spanish. On March 2, 2009, KHTY flipped to

with the branding "Fox Sports 970". On June 13, 2022, KHTY began simulcasting on KBFP 800 AM Bakersfield, replacing that station's comedy format.Fox Sports Doubles In Bakersfield
Radioinsight - June 13, 2022

Programming

The station lineup includes ''

The Dan Patrick Show ''The Dan Patrick Show'' is a syndicated radio and television sports talk show, hosted by former ESPN personality Dan Patrick. It is currently produced by Patrick and is syndicated to radio stations by Premiere Radio Networks, within and indepe ...

'', ''

The Rich Eisen Show Richard Eisen (; born June 24, 1969) is an American television sportscaster and radio host. Since 2003, he has worked for NFL Network as a host of various pregame, halftime, and postgame shows. He also hosts a daily sports radio show, ''The Ric ...

'', ''

The Doug Gottlieb Show ''The Doug Gottlieb Show'' is an afternoon drivetime sports talk and debate radio show on Fox Sports Radio that airs weekdays 3–6pm ET. The show was formerly on ESPN Radio from 2006-2012. Since debuting on November 13, 2006, the host of the progr ...

'', '' Steve Gorman Sports'', ''The Odd Couple'', '' Jason Smith'',

Ben Maller Benjamin "Big Ben" Maller (born April 29, 1975) is an American sports radio host who hosts a weekday radio show on Fox Sports Radio, which airs 11pm-3am PT/2am-6am ET. Maller is considered one of the first influential sports bloggers, because of ...

, and other Fox Sports Radio programs. Also on KHTY are broadcasts of the

Bakersfield Condors The Bakersfield Condors are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Bakersfield, California. The team is owned by and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers. The Condors play their hom ...

and the

References

External links

FCC History Cards for KHTY
* * * - Heard exclusively on Fox Sports 970 {{IHeartMedia HTY Radio stations established in 1958 IHeartMedia radio stations 1958 establishments in California